Lance (Legendary Defender)
Lance is the Paladin of the Red Lion of Voltron and the former the Paladin of the Blue Lion. He is a self-described ladies' man and the self-named sharpshooter of the team. Personality Lance's personality is very complex, as he has shown several different, often conflicting sides throughout the series. He can be very egotistical, cocky, confrontational, and arrogant at times. At other times, he is friendly, kind, reflective, and shows great intelligence. He is usually the first to make light of a delicate situation, either by joking around or flirting. Lance is noted for his poor-timed or vulgar humor at times, noted by him ripping a fart as a joke. Lance's friendly and outgoing personality allows him to connect to all of his teammates despite their many differences. Around girls, however, Lance tends to focus on flirting, sometimes neglecting his teammates, as shown through his interactions with Nyma. Lance is brave, adventurous, friendly, and free-spirited, often howling like a wild man during his fights and adventures, showcasing his unrestrained love for what he does. However the moments he is able to let go of those feelings are the times he is able to do the most for his team. He can be quite sensitive, reflective, and distant at times when his teammates are not around or when his guard is lowered. Lance is shown to be quite homesick, deeply missing the Earth and desiring to return to his family, reminiscing on the beach near his home, splashing in puddles, and experiencing rainfall. This is one of the few times he appears sad and he is unwilling to let his friends witness it. He is often impulsive, not very in control of his emotions and often loses the gravity of the team's mission to dreams of glory, praise, and being the center of attention. Lance reacts angrily when Keith doesn't prioritize the shows Voltron is putting on to gain support, and he is easily the most enthusiastic of the Paladins about performing in front of a crowd. Lance tends to get caught up in the way that he sees the world rather than the way things actually are. Because of this, he is noted to be the least perceptive of his team. Lance was the only one fooled by Pidge's disguise as a boy. He also sees many of Keith's comments as insulting or aggressive when Keith does not appear to mean them that way because Lance believes Keith is his rival, and the "rivalry" between them is entirely Lance's own creation. Lance is insecure about his own abilities and placement on the team, and so often acts as though he has something to prove. Lance admits that he doesn't see himself as one of Voltron's best warriors and suggests that he may not be the best choice for a Paladin of Voltron. Contrastingly, Lance often shows a high degree of situational awareness and tactical skill while on missions, as shown when he corrected Keith's errors twice to protect the Balmera from harm from Keith's reckless attacks. When meeting the Blade of Marmora for the first time, Lance pointed out to Shiro that Keith would become angry and attack someone if taken on the mission. While this was most likely said because of his rivalry with Keith, Lance was correct in his assessment of Keith's character, as Keith's antagonistic nature created tension with the Blade when they discovered the knife in his possession. Following Shiro's disappearance after the temporary defeat of Zarkon, Lance matured rapidly. He became far more serious in his missions and coordinating battles with his allies. During this time, he also lost much of his animosity towards Keith. Although initially desiring to be leader himself, Lance accepted the Black Lion's choice of Keith as Paladin. He becomes a much more supportive member of the team and steps up to take more of a tactical advisor's role, not sugar-coating his criticism of Keith's leadership tactics but supporting him to move forward all the same. Lance's acceptance by the Red Lion as its new pilot echoes King Alfor: acting as a right hand, trusting the Black Paladin to be a better leader than himself in battle, giving assistance when needed, and supporting his friends. Lance has been shown to much more focused on his missions as of Season Five, primarily focusing on keeping Shiro and the others balanced and in check, displaying his latent leadership talents. Lance's ascension to the position of second-in-command has brought out a more calm and focused side to him. In Season Six, this could be seen as he was able to quickly assess the situation and give practical and intelligent commmands when the clone Shiro went on a rampage. Abilities Lance is a natural sharpshooter and skilled marksman who has often shown his skills by nailing his enemies with powerful shots that are few in number, displaying his rarely seen precision in a fight. His Bayard takes the form of a rifle or a sniper. His reflexes are also extremely quick, as he realized that the drone that infiltrated the Castle was not Rover, and he managed to discern this quickly enough to protect Coran from the ensuing blast, although he was injured himself in the process. Lance is also surprisingly durable despite his light frame as the aforementioned explosion should have killed him. Though he did sustain near-fatal wounds, Lance survived long enough to get to a healing pod, and was even able to wake up long enough to shoot Sendak. Lance is a skilled improviser when it comes to battle, even directing Keith without speaking to get the drop on their Galra enemies. His piloting skills are not on the same level as Keith's, but are good enough that he was able to instinctively control the Blue Lion without any prior idea of how to do so, showing an instant close bond between them. He was also the first to figure out that the Lion was alive by following its gaze. Lance is the most skilled of the team in all manners of aquatic combat. This is likely due to him growing up near the coast, and thus developing a high level of familiarity around, in, and under water. Lance is also likely the strongest swimmer on the team, as he is often casually comfortable in aquatic environments that disorient his teammates rather easily. His lean build allows for a high degree of skill in the water, as most competitive swimmers are long and lean in appearance like Lance is. Lance's skill as a marksman is recognized by Shiro, who refers to Lance as the team's sharpshooter, after hearing Lance mention it. This talent is further backed by his precision timing on the battlefield, as during the mission to rescue Slav, Lance was able to calculate his final shot in such a manner that it allowed Slav to escape the airlock by waiting till the last minute to shoot the warden's mechanical arm at a critical area, securing the mission's success and the scientist's freedom. Lance is shown in his official stats to be the most well-rounded of the team, marking him as something of a jack-of-all-trades, and helping him to find common ground with all of the members of his team. Like Hunk, this rounded set of skills allows him to both literally and figuratively support his teammates. Lance has been shown to be a naturally skilled swordsman, having an innate proclivity for the Altean broadsword style, able to slice several training drones within fractions of a second of unlocking the Red Bayard's sword form. Lance initially had great difficulty handling the Red Lion's outrageous speed, not used to such a willful and wild Lion to pilot. However, he slowly and steadily gained ground, bonding deeper with Red and accepting this change for the better. Notes * Lance was originally only known to be in his late teens.San Diego Comic-Con 2016 Jeremy Shada, his voice actor, has described him as being 16.Let's Voltron Interview with Jeremy Shada at WonderCon 2016 (0:52) However, his age was clarified in The Paladin's Handbook official guidebook, revealing he is 17. ** The Voltron Coalition Handbook states that a year has passed since Shiro's return to Earth, making Lance 18 at the youngest by the time season six ends. * Lance is Cuban.Voltron Twitter He grew up in or near Varadero.Fall of the Castle of Lions * The Paladin's Handbook official guidebook gives garlic knots as Lance's favorite food. * "The hunter becomes the hunted" is a quote in some of Lance's favorite movies. * It was revealed on the 100th episode of the Lets Voltron Podcast (released June 14, 2017) that Lance's birthday is July 28th. * Lance's use of a double-edged broadsword is reminiscent of a battle in the classic Voltron series in which he fights with a similar weapon. References Category:Voltron: Legendary Defender characters Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Humans Category:Paladins